Reality Show: Flat Earthers Hunt for the Edge of the World

It seems that a basic understanding of the physics of our planet, scientifically verifiable things that anybody can observe are enough to prove that planet Earth is a sphere.

However, a couple years ago that Flat Earth movement really started to gain traction. Why is that? It’s partially because we’ve been lied to about so many things already, and we may have been lied to about a lot more things we don’t understand. However, the flat earth theory seems like a far extreme form of right brain thinking.

There’s nothing wrong with questioning the very deepest foundations of what we are told is true, but consider things like this: magnetic fields happen in the same pattern with the aurora, Northern Lights, on planet Earth, as on a regular sphere. Why would the aurora exist if the planet were not a sphere?

Also, how could so many, many people keep such a secret?

In articles about this, a quote from 1997 said by historian Jeffrey Burton Russell reads: “With extraordinary few exceptions, no educated person in the history of Western civilization from the third century onwards believed that the Earth was flat.”

The same year, Stephen Jay Gould, a renowned scientist said:

“There was never a period of ‘flat earth obscurity’ among scholars. Greek knowledge of sphericity never disappeared and all medieval scholars accepted the roundness of the Earth as an established fact of cosmology.”

“The Church says that the Earth is flat, but I know it is round because I saw its shadow on the Moon. And I have more faith in a shadow than in the Church.” – Fernando de Magallanes (1480-1521)

So a couple years ago a user on Reddit sparked headlines from all kinds of websites when he proposed that a reality show be created to prove the shape of the Earth. According to one article:

“Make a reality show to “cure” the flat Earth problem! The group of Reddit users brainstormed that flat Earthers should be sent out on an adventure to find the “edge” of the world. Those who believe in the flat Earth theories are convinced that it is impossible to make it to the “edge” of the world because it is blocked by a massive wall of ice and defended by the world’s military powers.

The Reddit commenters suggested that the flat Earthers should be flown to the north and south pole or perhaps fly them to the outer reaches of the atmosphere so they can see for themselves. However, this sounds like it is turning into an expensive reality show now!”

(Image credit: ancient-code)

This issue is one of those divisive issues that is so polarizing and brings out such lack of faith in humanity, it’s almost as if some AI algorithm in a CIA room somewhere invented this issue because it calculated it was one of the most divisive, confusion inducing debates that could possibly be introduced to people.

That’s a hyperbolic, sarcastic scenario but rings true. People shouldn’t let anything get to them, not the fact that some of their friends and family believe the Earth is flat, nothing.